Here Without You
by TheHouseKey
Summary: Hermione's death was the trigger. The dominoes are in motion. When will the death and destruction end?
1. PainFilled Memories

'I won't let the tears fall, again,' Ron told himself for the millionth time. All alone in his flat in London, who could blame him for continuing to think about the way she used to love him? She'd been gone three weeks, but each hour was another lifetime of pain.

"Merlin damn it all!" he screamed as he punched his pillow. He beat it with his fists until he was so tired he collapsed onto his bed. As he waited for sleep to come over him, his mind wandered through various memories.

:::Start Memories:::

"I'll kill him!" I shouted as I saw my blood stained sheets and three ginger hairs.

"What happened, Ron?" Harry looked concerned.

"That monster ate Scabbers!" 

All the rage came back to me as I recalled that incident. But not for Crookshanks…Oh no, you see, I was enraged by Scabbers himself. He was an animagus. He had stayed a rat for more than twelve years. _I let him sleep in my bed_. The thought still disgusts me.

But I thought of that because of how bad I made Hermione feel. If I could take it back, I would. Anything I had ever done to take away her smile; anything that made her feel bad; I would erase it all and leave the happy memories. Sadly, I couldn't even apologize fully for all of those ill times. I then started to think about another memory.

"Ron, have you seen Hermione?" Harry had asked me. It was our fourth year, and we were at the Yule Ball.

"No. You?" Of course, I had seen her. How could I not? She had looked like an angel with her light blue robes and million dollar smile. That smile had been for _Vicky_, though. Even the mere thought of him still boils my blood. A seventeen year old with a fourteen year old. There's something not right about that, even if it was anyone else. The hairs at the back of my neck had bristled when I saw _Vicky_ holding Hermione's hand. A growl had resounded low in my throat even though I was trying to ignore it.

The scene blurred and I was in the Department of Mysteries. My brain was slightly addled by the brain's tentacles, but that didn't stop the insane panic that had swept over me as I saw Hermione not moving. "She's gonna wake up, right, Harry?" I asked and then _giggled_ maniacally.

Events from our sixth and seventh year swirled about my head in chronological order until I came to the end of our seventh year.

"Ron…" Hermione murmured. We were in the shadows, waiting for Harry's signal before we entered the fray happening around us.

"What?" I snapped. What could she possibly want at a time like this?

"Whatever happens out there…" she stuttered.

"Just say it, Hermione." What she was trying to say was beyond me.

"It's sort of hard to say it, Ron." She paused as she looked straight at my face. "Whatever happens out there, I want you to know…" My eyes widened in surprise as she moved in to kiss me.

It was just a peck, but it was enough.

We got the signal from Harry and me and Hermione dueled a bunch of big, bad death-eaters while Harry destroyed Voldemort. How he did it, I couldn't say. The three of us had walked away from the scene, me and Hermione holding hands.

The next few days were heaven, knowing that Hermione loved me the way I'd loved her since our third year. About a week after Voldemort being gone, I proposed to her. Her eyes lit up as she laughed a joyful "yes," and jumped up to hug me.

The day after, we get a call from Harry. He needed help capturing Malfoy. But the bloody ferret set a trap. What happened exactly was a blur. The only clear thing I remember was seeing a cold, lifeless Hermione fall to the floor.

I ran to her, not willing to believe her dead. "Hermione?" I called softly, stroking her curly hair. She was going to awaken any minute; I knew it. She'd wake up with a mischievous glint in her eyes and say "August Idiots!" or something like that.

But she never woke up. I'm still waiting for her to look at me again with those deep, brown eyes filled with love.

:::End Memories:::

Ron fell asleep that night thinking about Hermione. An hour into his slumber, he dreamt.

"Ron?" a familiar voice whispered into my ear.

I opened my eyes to see white clouds around me. Then I felt soft lips press against mine.

"Hermione…" I tried to say, but she put her finger to my lips.

"Don't talk, Ron. Let's just be together for now."

I didn't say anything more, and I let the dream surround me more fully than any dream I had had before. I felt her love; let her feel mine. I kissed her as I thought, 'Sooner or later, I'll return to reality, and I'll never see her, again.'

Ron didn't stir when his front door blasted open. He didn't rouse when footsteps neared his bedroom. He never heard the words, those fatal words, chanted by the intruder.

"_Avada kadavra_."

Ron Weasley never returned to reality. He never left Hermione. He found her, and they now rest in eternal peace, together.

(A/N: Spur of the moment thing…wrote this while listening to a really sad couple of songs. I'd like comments on it from you, the reader. This has nothing to do with my other stories. It's just an "out-of-the-blue" type thing. Please, tell me what you thought…:-D)


	2. Midnight

_Tick, tock_.

A clock on the wall read quarter past eleven. He was sitting in apathy, not think about what he should with himself now. The pain inside didn't help him. Trying to kill the pain inside by producing pain on the outside didn't help either.

He was considering just killing himself.

_Tick, tock_.__

He hadn't meant to do it. He didn't want to. But it was a blessing for Ron to die. Ron had been wasting away to nothing. Not eating, always in reveries. It wasn't healthy, he concluded, and he told himself that he had done the right thing. Hermione's death had been an accident. None of these things were supposed to happen. Life wasn't supposed to be so complicated.

_Tick, tock_.

Knowing that it would just get harder, he pushed up his sleeves to look at the intricate carvings on his arm. Each one of them had been done with the sword of Godric Gryffindor, and the designs depicted good against evil, symbols, and lions vs. snakes. He's perfected it so that the carvings took on a three dimensional appearance. He closed his eyes as he recalled slicing each of those markings into his flesh.

_Tick, tock_.

The other clock was beginning to annoy him. He wished it would stop ticking. It told him that he had less and less time before he'd have to go back into the world. He didn't want to go back. They'd all pity him and ask his questions. Pity angered him. He didn't want pity. It only made things worse.

_Tick, tock_.

He was about ready to put his fist through the infernal clock. He envisioned it collapsing to the ground in a million pieces.

_Tick, tock_.

He picked up his wand, made of holly and phoenix feather, and made the clock explode. It was then that the clock he had meant to ruin struck midnight.

_Crash_.

His green eyes widened as he saw a shard of glass fly at him. It was as if his senses had stopped working. He watched as the glass lodged itself into his throat. He tried to stop the bleeding, but knew it was futile. He was ready to accept his fate. His destiny was fulfilled. As the last of his lifeblood rushed away from him he took one last look at the clock he destroyed.

He smiled back at the nine Weasley faces that were now strewn across the room.

(A/N: Guess this isn't a one-shot, any more, huh? I'm thinking of ending it here. But anywayz I wanna say a BIG BIG BIG THANK YOU!! To all those who reviewed the one shot and were not expecting another chapter...:-)  
**Venus Goddess Sailor Magna U, Ludy Suneidesis, Desipoplover13, ElectraBlack, Monkeys rok my sox, Spyke-2004** (who reviewed TWICE!!)** Naja607, ImMoRtAl, xMadgirlx, Codypup, **and **Lavender16**. YOU GUYS ROCK!!!!!!)


	3. The Lion, Knight, and Time Turner

So much pain! She didn't think she could stand it. They were as close as family to her. They had survived Voldemort's wrath, only to be killed by a traitor, a rogue, and misfortune. For a long time, admiration for the Golden Trio had won out over the resentment that she would never be a part of them. She thought for a minute about their nickname, the Golden Trio.

They weren't quite so golden as their gilded images were tarnished with the dirt from their graves and the roses before their tombstones. Their memories were stained with pain and anguish. Their lives were ruined by one evil man, Voldemort. Though he was the cause of all this, the Golden Trio's blood ultimately stained another's hands. Albus Dumbledore.

She sank deeper into depression. Her brother, her lover, her best friend...gone. All because of an old man's folly.

She didn't want to think on it. Ginny knew that if she did, she'd risk madness. She had to live, even though all her meaning for life was dead.

"Mummy!"

Well, almost all.

Ginny picked up the small boy that had run into her arms. He had the Weasley red hair and freckles. His eyes, though, were a brilliant green. Ginny almost cried looking at him. So happy was her little Cedric. He barely knew his father as it was, what with Harry's going out to round up the remaining Death Eaters. It had meant as little as nothing to the small boy when he had heard, but it had bothered him to see his mother cry.

He was only three, and Ginny was trying as hard as she could to raise him on her own. Her mother and father helped out a good deal, as did the Ministry. The Ministry.

The thought opened up a can of worms in Ginny's mind. She saw red and wanted to make the building explode. Their incompetence when Voldemort first returned had only been the beginning. They proceeded to keep children out of the loop, even though the Dark didn't think twice about killing children. The Ministry forced another teacher on Hogwarts, one who would keep them from learning the practical side of Defense. Their logic being that if they didn't teach Death Eater spawn to fight, they couldn't. They hid Harry below ground, and placed a Fidelius charm on him while Voldemort was running rampant. They had to protect the Wizarding World's Golden Boy, while innocents were slaughtered by the dozens.

To try to make up for what they had done, Ginny was given a large amount of money after Harry's death. They had never married, heck, they barely even lived together, but the Ministry thought that was the best rectification of their stupidity. It wasn't enough. It would never be enough, as it didn't give her her family back. It didn't revive Harry, Ron, and Hermione from their graves.

On the first year anniversary of Harry's death, Ginny and Cedric made the trek to Hogwarts to visit the graves. In a beautiful spot by the lake, twelve holly trees were planted in a horse shoe, and flowers were magically dispersed about the area. Reds and golds met Ginny's eyes as she looked at the tombstones. A talented sculptor made a lion for Harry's grave, a knight's chess piece for Ron's, and a time turner for Hermione's. Each grave had a small piece written on them.

Seeing them all, Ginny fell to her knees, and wanted to cry. It raked at her, but she would not shed tears in front of her son. Her heart felt torn out of her chest, her eyes burned for release, and her stomach was sick. _These people hadn't understood them_, she thought. _They had understood each other_. She could barely breathe, and ignored her son's inquiring as to her health. They had died so that others might live. Slowly, comprehension dawned. The trio hadn't wanted Ginny to miserable. They wanted those who lived because of them to live their lives to the fullest.

Suddenly, she turned and caught Cedric in an embrace. "I love you, Ced," she whispered.

"I love you, too, Mum." He was unsure of what to do.

Ginny smiled a mischievous grin and tickled Cedric until he cried, "Uncle!"

A little while later, the two headed home, and Ginny felt a great burden lifted from her shoulders. She could live.

* * *

A/N: I just want to say that, yes, I am on an updating spree, and no, I have no idea which story will be next. If you want any one particular story of mine to be updated, contact me. That might just be the push I need to get going on it. How it stands right now, any chapter that you get, (except for HP and the Rest of his life), is not written. I am holding nothing back, and when I finish chapters, they're going directly up here.

**Rhianna Potter**: I try so hard to be unpredictable! Thank ye for reviewing both chapters, that was so kind of you. Hope you like this chapter.

**Electra Black**: Thanks bunches for reviewing. I know it's been a long time, but hey, it's here! The next chapter! Hope you enjoy it.

**AmyChris**: I appreciate your review tons. So far? It was really only supposed to be a one-shot! Then just a two-shot...and I just can't seem to stop. :-)


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